Revenue growth of 6.6% for Virgin Rail Group
VIRGIN Rail Group has enjoyed a solid year with latest figures showing a revenue rise in excess of 6%.
The West Coast Main Line operator was the star performer in the portfolio of bus and rail services operated by minor stakeholder, Stagecoach.
Stagecoach, which has a 49% share of the Virgin operator, revealed that revenue for VRG increased 6.6% for the 40 weeks to February 6, 2016.
The performance follows changes to VRG’s franchise agreement and the taxpayer will benefit as profit share payments flow back into the Department for Transport.
VRG’s revised rail franchise will operate until September 2017, having previously been scheduled to end on March 31, 2017.
In March 2015, Virgin Trains East Coast began operating the InterCity East Coast franchise . However, instead of being run by VRG, this is run by Inter City Railways which is majority owned by Stagecoach, with Virgin Group only holding a 10% shareholding.
Stagecoach said in a trading update that although it continued to operate in a more challenging environment, it remained on track to meet full year expectations.
Adjusted earnings per share for the year ending April 30, 2016 are relatively unchanged from estimates made when the group announced its half year results in December 2015.
It said like for like revenue growth at its UK Rail operation – which excludes Virgin Trains East Coast – rose 4.6%.
